Tag Archive | "charity"

Begging in India and How to Actually Help the Poor

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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If you want to help Indian children, please don't give to child beggars. Of all of the advice I might give to individuals traveling to India - or most of the developing world - the most important one would be Don't give to beggars I realize this sounds cruel and callous. It feels cruel and callous to me, even when I know it's the best choice - especially when I'm sitting in an air-conditioned car in India, idling at a red light, and people who are clearly poor, clearly in need come to the window begging for a small handout. Just a few rupees, which, to an American or other Western traveler, is next to nothing. Change I probably wouldn't bother to pickup off the ground if I saw it. Can you ignore such clear need without guilt creeping up on you? I can't. I feel guilty for my Western extravagance when I see the numerous beggars in India. Very guilty. But I still don't give them any money. The reason is because I know - from a few simple economic principles - that giving to beggars is not a particularly noble deed. In fact, I'd say that giving to beggars in a poor, developing country - like India - is a bad act. It certainly doesn't seem that way - and I don't think givers give with bad intentions - but it's still a problem. Let me explain...

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